The snack attack on India’s three-meal day

By Sohail Khan 4 September 2026, 11:40 am

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Business News›Industry›Cons. Products›FMCG›The snack twist to India’s three meals a day has a ₹1 lakh crore hidden opportunity

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The snack twist to India’s three meals a day has a ₹1 lakh crore hidden opportunity
Synopsis

India's culinary habits are shifting, with a marked preference for convenient and health-conscious snack choices over traditional meals. This change is influenced by higher incomes and the fast-paced nature of modern life. As a result, the snack industry is experiencing significant expansion, introducing various innovative products. Quick-commerce services are playing a vital role in making these options easily obtainable for consumers.

snacking economy — India is eating differently as snacks, convenience and health reshape food habits

India’s food economy is moving beyond the three-meals-a-day routine.

The change is showing up in what consumers buy, how often they seek convenience and the kinds of products companies are building for the moments between breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Additionally, it is creating a market that stretches well beyond chips and biscuits. Protein-rich snacks, makhana, flavoured nuts, yoghurt, ready-to-eat foods and café products are finding their way into the Indian food basket, while quick-commerce platforms are making them available within minutes.

Its share of rural spending rose from 4.19% in 1999-2000. Cereals, meanwhile, fell from 22.2% of spending in 1999-2000 to 4.99% in 2023-24, as per household consumption data.

Average daily per-capita calorie intake remained broadly stable in 2023-24 at 2,212 kcal in rural India, down from 2,233 kcal in 2022-23, and 2,240 kcal in urban India, compared with 2,250 kcal a year earlier, according to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24, she added.

These shifting expenditure patterns reflect a market where convenience and occasion-based eating now compete with traditional meals.

Time is becoming a food currency

The shift towards snacking is also being driven by the rising value of convenience. As households become more time-constrained, food that can be consumed with little preparation is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition.

Also Read: Chips or chocolates, India's brands want you to pay more for a fitter you

Nikore ranks the drivers as “time first, income second, availability third”.

The Time Use Survey 2024 found that female participants aged 15-59 spend 305 minutes a day on unpaid domestic work, compared with 86 minutes for men. Separately, an analysis of NSO’s Time Use Survey 2019 data by Nikore, published by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), found that food preparation accounted for about 56% of women’s average time spent on unpaid work.

“Snacking is what a time-poor household buys back,” she said.

That time pressure helps explain the appeal of ready-to-eat and between-meal formats. A sandwich can fill the gap between meetings; a protein snack can follow a workout; a ready-to-eat meal can replace cooking when time is short.

Quick-commerce platform Instamart data points to the same shift in school-going households, with lunchboxes becoming more modular. Sandwiches, juices, yoghurt, dips and protein snacks are being combined across breakfast, recess and after-school occasions, according to Instamart’s Back-to-School report 2026 shared with ET.

The snack market is getting bigger

Market research firm IMARC estimates India’s snacks market at ₹50,590 crore in 2025 and expects it to cross ₹1.04 lakh crore by 2034, implying an 8.28% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The Indian snack basket now stretches from chips and biscuits to protein bars, makhana, flavoured nuts, yoghurt, ready-to-eat foods, functional beverages and café products.

One of the clearest areas of growth is in health-oriented products.

Instamart data shows strong growth in several of these products. Protein snacks grew approximately 300%, protein yoghurt around 280%, and protein milk and shakes 225%, as per Protein Trends 2026 data shared by the quick comm company.

Farmley’s Healthy Snacking Report 2026, based on responses from more than 6,000 consumers across generations, professions and cities, found that 86% consider protein an important factor when choosing snacks, while 61% prefer snacks sweetened with natural ingredients such as dates or jaggery over refined sugar. Nearly 32% said they are willing to pay a premium for protein-rich products.

Parminder Joshi, former Nestlé executive and founder and CEO of FoodIntellé, estimates India’s healthy snacks market is growing at nearly 10% annually, compared with around 6.5% globally.

Anand Ramanathan, Partner and Consumer Industry Leader at Deloitte India, puts the growth rate for the broader nutrition and functional-food category at 15–20% annually, compared with around 10% for the overall food market.

Traditional ingredients are also being recast through a health lens. On Instamart, demand for soya chunks and sattu more than doubled, while makhana, roasted chana, besan and peanut butter remained prominent.

Consumers are also paying closer attention to ingredients. Ramanathan said nearly 74% read ingredient or nutritional information before buying, while almost four in five regularly check ingredient labels.

The shift towards health-oriented choices is also visible in beverages. On Instamart, wellness teas grew 26% year-on-year, led by Tulsi, green tea and blue pea tea, while kombucha emerged among the fastest-growing tea trends.

Also Read: Protein & clean labels priorities in snacking; quick commerce fuelling healthy snacking: Farmley report

Yet health is not replacing indulgence.

Ramanathan describes a “split basket”, where consumers continue to buy affordable and indulgent products while adding premium and health-focused options.

Instamart data also points to the coexistence of nutrition and indulgence. Ice cream demand peaks at 9 pm, with family-sized tubs leading purchases and chocolate accounting for approximately one in four ice-cream orders.

That is creating multiple demand pools within the same market. A consumer can buy traditional namkeen for an evening craving and protein-rich snacks for another occasion.

The result is an expanding snack universe rather than a simple handover from traditional snacks to healthier alternatives.

When the snack becomes a meal

The boundaries between snacks and meals are also becoming less rigid.

Products such as sandwiches, wraps, yoghurt-based drinks, protein-rich foods and ready-to-eat meals can serve different purposes depending on the occasion.

“The boundary between meals and snacks is becoming increasingly blurred among younger, digitally connected consumers,” Ramanathan said.

A sandwich can be lunch at noon and a snack in the evening. A yoghurt drink can accompany breakfast or become a post-workout purchase. A wrap can substitute for dinner when someone is short on time.

This gives food companies a wider canvas.

Instead of designing products exclusively for breakfast, lunch or snacking, brands can build around specific consumer needs: hunger, convenience, protein, indulgence, energy or an on-the-go occasion.

That shift is particularly important for the new-age food businesses competing with established packaged-food brands.

Quick commerce turns cravings into commerce

India’s quick-commerce market grew from roughly $0.3 billion in 2021 to an estimated $7-8 billion in 2025, according to industry data cited by Ramanathan. The platforms now operate across more than 80 cities.

For snacks, the model is particularly powerful because the purchase can happen without advance planning.

Farmley’s report found 31% of consumers prefer Blinkit for snack purchases, compared with 16% for Zepto and 15% for Instamart.

The platforms are also expanding beyond grocery delivery. Zepto Cafe, Blinkit Bistro and offer coffee, bakery products, sandwiches, rolls, desserts and light meals.

They are competing for an intermediate consumption window: food that sits between the grocery basket and the conventional restaurant meal.

India’s next challenge is taking snacks global

The domestic opportunity is also raising a bigger question: can India turn its traditional ingredients into global food brands?

Makhana, millets, ragi, spices and traditional Indian savouries have the ingredients for a global story. But India’s export performance shows that processing, standards and branding remain the bigger challenges.

India exported $52.55 billion of agricultural and allied products in FY26. Processed food exports, however, fell from $8.22 billion in FY25 to $8.03 billion FY26, according to APEDA data cited by Nikore.

On whether India can become the next global food export story, Nikore said the time is not yet right. “Not yet — and the binding constraint is how nascent our food processing industry still is, not whether the world wants our food,” Nikore said.

South Korea offers a useful comparison. Its K-Food Plus exports reached $13.62 billion in 2025, with instant noodles alone crossing $1.5 billion.

India has shown it can build competitive processing capacity in individual categories. Frozen French fries are one example. Industry estimates cited by Nikore show exports rising sharply while dependence on imported fries fell from about 70% in FY20 to under 20% in FY25.

But fries remain largely a business-to-business and private-label export story. India has demonstrated processing capability; it has yet to replicate that success with globally recognised consumer brands.

Makhana offers another lesson. Earlier claims of a four-fold export boom were complicated by the use of a broader customs classification. After dedicated makhana codes came into effect in July 2025, FY26 exports stood at just over 7,000 tonnes, she said.

The government is building the infrastructure. The National Makhana Board has a ₹476 crore outlay over six years, while food-processing schemes are expanding capacity.

But companies still face challenges around finance, international standards, quality testing, product development, packaging and branding.

“The infrastructure is arriving. The branding is not,” Nikore said.

India’s food opportunity, then, is no longer only about what consumers put on the table. It is about building the products, brands and occasions around food — and making them travel beyond India.

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